Pharm Tech Pay

Depends on where you live.

Here in WV where cost of living is anemic so the hourly rate starting out is about minimum wage at a retail pharmacy to $8/hour at a hopital. From what I understand, in places where cost of living is higher, pharmacy technicians can expect to make up to $15/hour starting out.

CityMermaid said:

Thanks,
I guess mainly I'm interested in Chicago and UP Michigan in general, but I'm curious what it is elsewhere as well.

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Probably around 7-9 bucks/hr in MI or IL. They start around $12-14/hr here, but I remember starting at $6.50/hr in '99 in MI.

Wages vary drastically by company. When I was looking in Seattle a couple years ago wages ranged from $10.25/hr (Rite-Aid) to $13.95/hr (QFC).

I live in Durham, North Carolina and make about $10.25 per hour at Kerr Drug (in-state chain, about 100 stores total). People at Eckerd/CVS etc. have been known to make as low as $6.00 in this region. I have found that some smaller chains are willing to pay techs more because higher pay = happier employee = less turnover = more customer recognition = neighborhood drugstore appeal. I would recommend this route for anyone b/c training an antsy high school after-school student to tech every month gets old.

Hi!

Does anyone know how much Pharmacy Tech(without experience) make at
Wal-Mart?

CityMermaid said:

Thanks,
I guess mainly I'm interested in Chicago and UP Michigan in general, but I'm curious what it is elsewhere as well.

Click to expand...

I live in Peoria, IL (about 3 hours southwest of Chicago) and work at a small retail pharmacy. I make $10.75 an hour (about $10 an hour after taxes). It really helps put me through pharmacy school.

I work at SavOn in Irvine, CA and make $9.65/hour. This is the base pay for techs, regardless of experience or not. After three years you max out at $15.30/hour here.

Pharmacy clerks start out at $7.35. Ugh.

I work for Walgreens in the Chicagoland area and I *think* I started at $8.00/hr before pharm school

Then my pay increased after I got into school because I'm now considered an "intern"

1st yr: $12/hr
2nd yr: $14/hr
3rd yr: $16.50/hr
and now as a 4th year I am at $18.50/hr

After you finish your rotations and wait on your Board results I hear the pay is half a pharmacists salary.

I work at the clinic on campus which serves the student population and others.
(we have a pharmacy in the clinic)

i made about 14 as an intern my first year..
started making 15.64 this 2nd year,

and it goes up with every year i complete

When I started at CVS as a clerk, I made $6.50/hr. Once I got into pharmacy school, I got a raise to $10.00/hr. 2nd year students get $11, 3rd year gets $12.50 and 4th year gets $14. That's here in SC. I just left CVS and now work at a hospital where I can get up to almost $13/hr with the help of shift and weekend differentials.

My chain does $16/hr the 1st year interns, plus $1 extra per year, and $2.50 extra on sundays. So now I'm at $17/hr on weekdays and $19.50/hr on sundays. It's not too bad for a job I really enjoy.